Reducing Industrial Marketing Waste

Inventory control is a great way to reduce waste and increase profits in your manufacturing company. Another way is to apply “industrial marketing control” to your industrial marketing activities in order to reduce your marketing spending and optimize your results. The best way to get your industrial marketingunder control and optimized is to treat it as a process and not as an event.

The first step in this process is to make a company-wide commitment to getting much more strategic in all you do.

First, you need a workable definition of strategy. The definition I like to use for strategy is, “The framework that guides culture, direction, and decision-making within an organization.” The key point is that your strategy is a guide. It provides oversight and a unified direction. It clearly indicates the unique way you bring value to your marketplace.

Second, in order for your strategy to be effective it needs to be understood within your manufacturing company. There are three key components to making your strategy understood:

1. Your strategy must be valid. If your strategy is viewed within your organization as being misguided, you will not get the critical buy-in necessary for success.

2. Your strategy must be clear. Effective strategy provides a simple way for employees to determine whether or not to pursue a course of action. If it is, opaque or arcane you will have a difficult time making it understood. It kind of reminds me of a sign on my university professor’s desk that said, “Eschew Obfuscation.”

3. Your strategy must be communicated throughout your manufacturing company. Quite often strategy is formulated by executives at the highest level. While this is understandable what does not make sense is hoarding this lovingly developed strategy at this high level. Your strategy needs to be communicated often and clearly to everyone from the chief executive officer to every other employee in your manufacturing company.

Last, all of your industrial marketing activities must align with your strategy. This is the critical element in reducing industrial marketing waste. Whenever any industrial marketing initiative is being considered it must be aligned with your strategy. If these initiatives align with your strategy, reinforce your uniqueness, and have a good probability of success, then move forward. If they cause you to stray from your strategy, you are best to rethink them.

About Andrew Shedden

Andrew Shedden is an industrial marketing consultant and the president of Broadfield Consulting. He helps manufacturers dramatically improve their rate of profitable growth. Please visit his website at broadfieldconsulting.com for lots of free resources, including his Five Ways CEOs Destroy Growth report.